Thursday, July 25, 2013

Lost Hikers Rescued, Immediately Drive Off Boat Ramp And Die

Sad stuff. Final Destination anyone?

"Amy Stiner, 37, of Machias, and Melissa Moyer, 38, of Sunbury, Pa.,
presumably drowned when Stiner drove her car down the boat ramp at the
end of a dead-end road at about 9 p.m. Tuesday in this town of 300
people in eastern Maine, said Washington County Sheriff Donnie Smith.

Smith called the deaths a tragic accident made worse because Stiner
was five months pregnant. The two were found in the back of the minivan
likely due to the fact it sank from the front, The Bangor Daily News
reported. A dog was also found dead inside the minivan.

"They called on the phone that they were in the water and the car was
filling up. Then the phone went dead," Smith said. "An hour later, the
deputies found the car."

Earlier in the evening, the women got lost while hiking in Roque
Bluffs State Park amid fog and a steady downpour, the Portland Press
Herald reported.

An off-duty firefighter found them and their dog and gave them rides
on his ATV back to his house, where a warden picked them up and brought
them to the 2001 Dodge Caravan.

Stiner then drove toward the boat ramp instead of in the other
direction to Machias, Smith said. Weather could have contributed to the
accident, Smith said.

"It appears they went the wrong direction and drove off the ramp," he
said. "If you don't know the area, in the fog and rain it wouldn't be a
difficult thing to do."

Authorities found the submerged car about 175 feet off the boat ramp,
the women and the dog inside with the doors closed and the windows up.